About Toronto’s Vital Signs Reports
For more than 20 years, Toronto’s Vital Signs® Reports have helped us understand what shapes quality of life in this city—and what strengthens it. Each report brings together data to surface the trends affecting Toronto’s wellbeing and the opportunities to act.
Our aim is simple: to inform funding decisions, guide community action and direct philanthropic support toward grassroots organizations addressing the city’s most pressing needs.
Round up on Growth
The first-ever short-form Toronto's Vital Signs report asks people to consider a new perspective on growth. While the rise in population has dominated the civic conversation, the latest research reveals new data on an overlooked and urgent reality.
Toronto's Vital Signs Reports
Social Capital Reports
Research Briefs
Toronto’s most important vital sign
Toronto’s Vital Signs® Reports track quality of life across ten issue areas. Our Social Capital research focuses on how connected Torontonians feel—to one another, to their neighbourhoods, and to civic life.
In 2023, The Power of Us—our Vital Signs® Report—revealed how deeply intertwined these measures are. The findings showed how the global loneliness crisis is playing out locally, with nearly 40% of Torontonians reporting feeling lonely at least three days a week—placing Toronto among the loneliest cities in Canada.
The report also highlighted declining rates of donating, volunteering, and other forms of civic participation, pointing to a strong link between social connection and community wellbeing. Together, the data made one thing clear: social capital may be one of the most important indicators of a thriving city.
The evolution of our research
Historically, Toronto’s Vital Signs® Reports have drawn on existing research while centring the voices of community leaders and organizations to interpret the data.
Over time, we began to ask what the numbers weren’t fully capturing—the less visible factors shaping wellbeing, like trust, belonging and connection.
In 2018, we partnered with Environics to launch Toronto Foundation’s first Social Capital Study, surveying over 3,000 Torontonians. Four years later, following the pandemic, we surveyed another 4,000 residents and uncovered weakened relationships, declining trust, and reduced connection across both informal and formal networks.
In 2026, we’ll build on these insights to better understand social capital at the community level—and how it’s changing across the city.
From research to action
These findings are shaping how we approach research—and what comes next. Rather than stopping at diagnosis, we’re increasingly pairing insight with action through public engagement and funding, with policy recommendations to follow.
The next chapter of Toronto’s Vital Signs® will reflect this shift: a reimagined report supported by a broader strategy to strengthen social cohesion across the city—or, as we like to say, to help build a city of neighbours.
Watch for the launch of the new Vital Signs® in fall 2026 and stay connected for updates.
